Tactical Folders

Reprinted with permission of Folders Magazine

An excerpt from Tactical Folders

If my memory serves me right, within a few years of the introduction of the Cold Steel Tanto, Ernest Emerson, an up-and-coming knifemaker in California at that time, was busy making an assortment of custom folders, some embellished with mother-of-pearl scales, some featuring anodized titanium fittings-all very fancy. It was at this time that Ernie approached Michael Walker for permission to use both the liner lock mechanism and the name linerlock on some of the knives he was developing. Being an avid martial artist he also decided to design some folders for martial arts use, knives that certainly were not glamorous. Unlike his custom knives, they featured bead-blasted Micarta scales, blades and bolsters.

Being wrapped up in martial arts as he was, Emerson met some key Navy personnel interested in serious knives. A part-timer then, and not involved in making fixed-blade knives, Ernie encouraged them to speak with Hartsfield, a maker with a reputation for designing and making knives that survive, knives that cut. The Navy quickly bought some of Hartsfield’s knives. Still, they were interested in superior combat folders. Phill makes excellent fixed-blade knives and Emerson makes folders, so, they again camped out at Emerson’s.

Emerson makes folders, so, they again camped out at Emerson's. Over a lengthy period, with input from the Navy, Emerson began developing a series of combat folders in different sizes, with different handle shapes, different blade styles. The Navy tested them all. Finally, they left with a few samples of the sixth model in this series, and when they returned, that knife became known as the Close-Quarters-Combat Six, or CQC6. It proved to be super strong dependable and dynamite. Without a doubt, the Emerson CQC6 is the knife that started the ball rolling, the knife responsible for the tidal wave of demand for "Tactical Folders – a demand that may never be matched again.

The Emerson CQC6 is the first folder to carry a true chisel-ground blade, wherein the chisel edge is on one side only, and the back side is flat, just like a wood chisel or cutting plane. It also must be stated that Emerson conferred with Hartsfield before adopting this blade style, simply as a matter of courtesy. Since Hartsfield does not make folders, he didn't object. This can't be said for most makers who have adopted this blade style, many of whom know very little about design and function, and therefore make knives that simply don't perform, and in many cases, look downright ugly.